Hey Tyrone

[irul&ublo]

Did you see that pic in the Thurs. Sac Bee of the skier setting off the avy near the 'Weed? Supposedly it was taken during an avy awareness class when the instructor was telling the group that the skier in question was somewhere he shouldn't be. Good article too.

[irul&ublo]

Walter...here's the story, but the Bee website didnt have the pic.

Beware the backcountry
New classes help explorers avoid - or survive - avalanches
By Clint Swett -- Bee Staff Writer










Close - X Recent Stories By Clint Swett





Get weekly updates on promotions and events at area casinos. Sign up here

KIRKWOOD - Approaching a steep backcountry slope blanketed in shimmering powder, some skiers wouldn't see the hidden hazards during a heavenly descent. But Todd Rudhall is ever mindful.

A veteran ski patroller at Kirkwood, Rudhall knows firsthand that the seductive allure of a pristine slope can mask serious danger.
He once helped excavate the body of a good friend who had been caught in a slide in his native New Zealand.

"It doesn't get much worse than that," he said.

Now, Rudhall is passing on his hard-won knowledge of avalanches and other lessons to backcountry beginners in the second year of a program at Kirkwood, off Highway 88.

Called Backcountry Awareness, the six-hour clinic costs $125 and provides a primer on how to recognize and avoid dangerous conditions when trekking beyond ski-area boundaries.

Such courses are gaining in popularity, both because of heightened interest in backcountry skiing and publicity over avalanche deaths, including one near Donner Summit last weekend and those of six skiers and boarders who have died in Utah avalanches this season.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the week after the Utah avalanche last month, the Kirkwood course had more applicants than available spots.

Kirkwood isn't the only one offering such a course. Alpine Skills International, based in Truckee, offers a two-day course for $292, which includes backcountry touring.


Avalanche 101More skiers are taking to the backcountry. According to industry statistics, sales of telemark skis at specialty ski shops were up 15 percent over a year ago.
At Kirkwood, the class is designed - in a nice way, of course - to show people how little they know about the backcountry. "We want to show people some of the basic techniques and the minimum equipment they need," Rudhall said. "But we want to make sure people move on from this and enroll in more formal avalanche training."

Indeed, in just six hours Rudhall and his cohorts throw a dizzying array of information at would-be explorers.

First on the agenda is a one-hour classroom session in which instructors talk about necessary equipment - not just skis, poles and boots, but also shovels, transceivers for finding people buried in a slide, and such basics as bringing water, food and sun screen.

In addition, there's Avalanche 101 that covers the physics of slides, including how they form and which conditions - temperature, wind, exposure to the sun, steepness of the slope - make them most likely.

Students are taught to read a map, check the weather and where to find backcountry avalanche forecasts.

"I never knew how much there was to learn about snow," said Dave Weir of Hillsborough, who took the course last weekend with his 14-year-old son, Danny.

Then it's off to Beacon Basin - the name given to an open patch of snow next to the lodge at Kirkwood. Buried beneath the snow are 11 beacons, meant to simulate avalanche victims wearing transceivers. Each student is issued a transceiver and taught to home in on the "victim." The hand-held device reads signals from the buried "victim" and leads rescuers to the spot via urgently blinking lights and beeping tones.

Once over the spot, the student probes with a slender 6-foot rod that unfolds much like a camping tent pole held together by bungee cords. A soft pad is buried with each transceiver to give the student the somewhat creepy sensation of actually touching a body with the probe.


Practicing new skillsTracking your way to the victim is reasonably simple - especially with Rudhall at your elbow offering advice and correcting mistakes. Finding a skier after an avalanche - when each moment buried means the skier is closer to death - would be much more difficult.
Hence, Kirkwood offers free use of the Beacon Basin facilities to anyone who wants to brush up on his or her skills.

After learning beacon techniques, the class hops on Chair 10 for a ride to the top of the mountain. Though Kirkwood's patrollers vigilantly control avalanches within the area boundaries, there's plenty of terrain there that would slide if not tended to.

Rudhall points out a cornice here, a rock outcropping there, chutes and gullies - all of which could turn deadly under the wrong conditions.

A harmless-looking 10-foot roll might be perilous after a fresh snowfall. A skier who fell going over the roll could set off a mini-slide, Rudhall said, burying him facedown. Death by suffocation could come within minutes.

Even while skiing on groomed slopes, the class practices mountain-safety techniques. The students avoid traversing below known slide paths; they ski across the slope one at a time - practicing keeping watch on each skier, the better to spot them if an avalanche should occur.

Rudhall gives each student a chance to lead his or her own mission - evaluating the terrain and potential for avalanche, picking the best line, deciding the safest spots to wait while other skiers cross to safety.


A final examFor a beginner, the process can be overwhelming. If the wind is from the east, certain exposures will be more dangerous. If the weather has been consistently cold, snow is less likely to have bonded to lower layers and be more prone to sliding. If you ski below a stand of trees, it might block a slide's path. Ski above, and a slide could carry you into the trees, making you look, Rudhall said, like you've been through a cheese grater.
"As soon as you're forced to make a decision, it makes you look at the terrain (in a new way)," Rudhall said.

At day's end comes the final exam. Instructors bury a transceiver somewhere in an old avalanche path, scatter a few clues like a ski pole and a glove, and tell the students to organize a search party and find the victim.

It can take the students up to 15 minutes to find the buried transceiver. Given that an avalanche victim can suffocate in minutes, it's a sobering lesson - perhaps one that will make the students more cautious.

In a bit of unscripted reinforcement last Saturday, Rudhall's group, which included Dave and Danny Weir, watched as three skiers traversed a ridge beyond Kirkwood's area boundaries.

None of the three appeared to be carrying transceivers, shovels or other safety equipment.

"The snowpack looked unstable, and when they tried to ski down a couple of pitches, they triggered a small to medium avalanche," Dave Weir said. Fortunately, no one was caught, but Weir called it "a good live example" of the hazards of backcountry skiing.

By the end of the day, Rudhall said, students certainly aren't ready to venture safely into the backcountry without more knowledge.

But they do know enough to pack the right gear, get the right information and find a more experienced skier with whom to travel.

Weir agreed. "I recognize there is a lot to know, but spending time in the backcountry with someone who is experienced is the right next step. ... This class is a good first step in learning to travel independently."

[irul&ublo]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vigilance can save your lifeHere is a list of quick checks backcountry travelers could make during the day:
* What have the weather conditions been over the past few days? Recent heavy snows?

* Can you observe any wind loading on the slopes?

* Do you have a good sense of the snowpack?

* Have you noticed fracture lines, heard "whumping" or cracking sounds, or hollow noises in the snowpack?

* Are you keeping an eye on the orientation and steepness of the slopes as you cross them?

* Are you lingering in gullies, bowls or valleys?

* Have you noticed any recent avalanche activity on other slopes similar to the one you are on?

* If a slope looks suspect, are there alternative routes?

Extra precautions to take:

* If there is no alternative to crossing a suspect slope, do so one person at a time to minimize risk.

* When descending or ascending a slope, try to stay as far to the sides of a potential avalanche chute as possible to decrease your chances of being caught if an avalanche runs.

* Be aware of the condition of those in your party. If someone is tired, hungry or cold, they may not be using their best judgment.

* Remain aware of changing weather or temperature conditions, particularly if your outing will last more than a few hours.

Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center, 449 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0449; (303) 492-6199; http://nsidc.org/snow/avalanche/



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to head before heading outWhere to get instruction in safe backcountry travel:

Classes
* Expedition Kirkwood offers a six-hour introductory course for $125. (209) 258-7360 or visit www.kirkwood.com.
* Alpine Skills International in Truckee offers a variety of programs, including a two-day backcountry mountaineering class for $292. (530) 582-9170 or www.alpineskills.com.

* In the Mount Shasta area, check out Sierra Wilderness Seminars. (888) 797-6867 or www.swsmtns.com/mt_shasta_backcountry/ avalanche_courses.html


Web links
* Avalanche.org (West-Wide Avalanche Network) delivers useful avalanche information, including accident statistics.
* Backcountry avalanche advisories are available at www.fs.fed.us/r5/tahoe/documents/avalanche/ current_advisory.htm



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's not cheap off the beaten track
In addition to outfitting yourself with backcountry skis, boots, bindings, sun protection and suitable clothing, the skier needs additional safety gear. Here is the minimum advised by Todd Rudhall of Expedition Kirkwood.
* Transceiver for helping locate buried skiers: $300

* Lightweight shovel and accompanying probe: $80

* First-aid kit: $9.95 to $120.

Source: REI.com


About the writer:
The Bee's Clint Swett can be reached at (916) 321-1976 or cswett@sacbee.com.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Get the whole story every day - SUBSCRIBE NOW!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Arty50]

Supposedly, an Expedition group was somewhere on Fawn Ridge and saw some members of the crew set off a slide in the West Shore area.

Then it's off to Beacon Basin

Once over the spot, the student probes with a slender 6-foot rod that unfolds much like a camping tent pole held together by bungee cords. A soft pad is buried with each transceiver to give the student the somewhat creepy sensation of actually touching a body with the probe.

That's nice and dandy. It's just too bad that isn't the case. A couple of us were at the course 3 weeks or so ago, and the probe targets were not deployed. We inquired about them and were told that the targets were at ground level and they hadn't dug them up since the beginning of the season. I recently contacted the BCA rep about this, and he called Kirkwood. Basically, they don't have time to reset the course. So as far as I know, the above portion of the article is fine in theory but total bullshit in reality. I'll definitely be going back to practice again this week. I'll see if they've fixed this.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Hadn't seen that article Irul thanks for posting.

[slim]

I'd be interested in seeing that photo. I set off a small slide with AKA and skimoore in Westshore with a Kirkwood group watching over. However, it certainly wasn't worth writing a story about. Very shallow wind-slab on a face with very obvious and accessible safe-zones. The slab wasn't enough snow to bury anything and there wasn't anything nearby to be swept off. At no point did I feel uncomfortable.

[slim]

Found the photos. They make everything seem a lot more Gnar than it really was... at least in my opinion, from having been the guy that set it off.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

wait a sec...that's you slim? Holy crap...That does look fuckin gnarly. Was that in main West Shore chute?

[FollowMe]

No gear? Come on guys . "Safety First".

[Greydon Clark]

No gear? Come on guys . "Safety First".

Wait, West Shore isn't inbounds?

[slim]

Was that in main West Shore chute?

Negative. We didn't want to even consider the Main Chute because there are no exit routes in that thing. We had checked out Corner Chute (the face closest to Fawn Ridge) but it had super heavy wind-loading with a really scarey looking cornice. This is the more mellow approach in between the two that leads to that ice-flow deal. We'd done a lot of scouting and decided this was the safest route down with the most options to hide from something if it slid.

Those pictures are posted in reverse order time-frame wise. I had made my ski cut, dropped in, and then made my first turn. It ripped just as I was initiating my second turn which is why it appears I'm skiing towards the slide. The other photo is where I'm pointing it to the safe zone under the rock cropping.

The crown on that thing was about 8" at the deepest point. It also looks like a smaller primary slide that then ripped a larger secondary slide. It propagated away from our chosen ski route due to the way the wind had loaded the area. Pretty classic Tahoe surface slide... wind deposited new snow poorly bonded to a sun crust surface layer.